A life together?
by Isajoi
Summary: This story takes place after the events in Toshima. Keisuke survives Shiki's attacks and flees together with Akira, Motomi and Rin. Keisuke is thinking of telling Akira his Feelings towards him ... Just read it already, I'm not good at writing summaries ... Oh and by the way, it's my first published Story :)


Keisuke and Akira made it; they both fled from Toshima with the help of N, Motomi and Rin. Akira and Keisuke lived together in a small flat and also worked together. Akira sometimes went to a place where Bl ster took place. he participated sometimes and called himself "Lost" again.

One night Keisuke and Akira slept together in a room, like they always did. And just like almost every night Keisuke had one of his nightmares. Akira never slept deep, so he woke up as Keisuke turned in his bed and whimmered quietly. Every time he had nightmares the grey-haired tried to sooth him and woke him up. "Hey, Keisuke ... It's okay! You've just been dreaming again ...", he said softly. The brunette woke up and murmured: "Ah ... Akira, did I wake you up again? I'm sorry ..." Akira shook his head and replied: "It's okay ... I didn't sleep well either ..." The grey-haired stared through the window, it was about midnight and it was getting real cold inside the room.

"Akira ... thank you ...", Keisuke mumbled. "For what?", Akira asked. "For staying with me ... For saving me ... I don't know ... just for everything you did ...", he said shyly.

Both of them stayed awake from that time on until early morning. Akira got dressed and said: "I'll go work, you don't look that good so you better stay and sleep for a while ..." Keisuke looked at him and got up: "Thank you, Akira ... but ..." The grey-haired cut him off: "No! Just stay ... I'll go to work now ... Rest a little longer I'll be back soon!" Keisuke nodded: "I'll stay if you want me to ... but I guess I'll take a shower then." Akira waved goodbye and walked out of the room.

The brunette walked over to the bathroom and turned the shower on. He looked at himself in the mirror and when the room was already filled with steam, he put his clothes off and stood under the hot water.

The water was that hot, that Keisuke's skin turned red, where the water touched it. For him the boiling hot water felt freezing-cold. He stood under the stream of water - shivering - for a really long time.

As Akira returned home after he had finished his work and bought something to eat, he still heared the noise of the running shower. He walked into the kitchen and put everything on the table, also his jacket and walked to the bathroom. He knocked and asked: "Keisuke? Are you still taking a shower? Are you alright?!"

No answer. The grey- haired knocked again and asked louder: "Keisuke? Are you alright?" Still no answer, instead he heared a loud _boom_. Fast Akira opened the door and shouted: "Keisuke!"

Akira found his friend laying in the bath tub, shivering. He held a hand into the stream of water and immediatly took it away again. "Damn it! It's boiling hot!", he mumbled. "A-Akira ...?", Keisuke murmered in a extremly low voice. The grey-haired put the water off, helped his friend to get up, dried him and dressed him up.

While Akira was doing that he slightly blushed. He felt that Keisuke's body was hot, not because of the water but more because he was ill. The brunette had a fever and he needed medicine. "A-Akira ... i-it's s-so cold ...", Keisuke tried to speak out as loud as he could.

The grey-haired brought him to the kitchen and gave him his jacket. "Put it on! You need to get to a doctor!", Akira said and walked into their bedroom. "Damn it ... there aren't any open pharmacies or doctors ... I need to get him to a hospital ... I hope we'll catch a bus in time!", he thought as he took a really warm blanket and walked back to the kitchen. "Come on ... we need to catch the bus!", Akira said fast and cover Keisuke's back and shoulders with the blanket. "I'm s-sorry b-but I-I can't s-stand up ... my knees f-feel to w-weak to c-carry m-my weight ...", Keisuke stuttered. "I'll carry you then! You have to see a doctor and get some medicine!", Akira said.

The grey-haired lifted his friend up and carried him in his back. "A-Akira ... you c-can't c-carry me there th-the whole w-way ... ", Keisuke seemed worried but Akira didn't say something. As they arrived the bus stop, they were right in time to get in.

Akira walked to the back of the bus and put Keisuke down. He put a hand to the brunette's forehead. "He's getting even worse ... His temperature is rising.", the grey-haired thought and sighed.

After about an hour the bus arrived somewhere near the hospital. The bus stop was still more than 2 miles away from the hospital but it was its final stop.

Again Akira carried Keisuke. He walked for some time now. In front of them was a huge stairway. The grey-haired took a deep breath and started walking up the stairway. To prevent Keisuke from falling off his back, Akira leaned forward.

As they finally reached the hospital entrance, the brunette was unconscious. Akira walked inside and said: "Please ... anyone ... he's sick and needs some help ... his temperature is constantly rising ..." Some nurses brought a barrow. Akira laid Keisuke down on it and the nurses brought them to a room for only one single bed. The grey-haired sat down on the only chair in the room he was totally exhausted and still tried to catch his breath.

A doctor entered the room and looked after Keisuke, while he asked Akira some questions. The grey-haired answered the questions but it was hard for him to stay awake. "I am sorry, doctor, but I'm too sleepy ... I worked all day and had to carry him the whole way from the bus stop to this hospital ...", Akira said and rubbed his eyes. "Okay then ... I'll let you sleep and stop the questions ... but I still have to find out what's wrong with him ...", the doc replied. Akira nodded, he eyes were already closing themselves. The grey-haired fell into a deep sleep.

Early morning, the sun started shining through the hospital-window. Akira woke up. Keisuke was lying in that bed, sleepimg and connected to some monitors that showed his vitalstats. "That's not good ... I guess he won't get healthy anytime soon ...", Akira thought and got up. A nurse entered the room and changed Keisuke's infusion. "How is he? Will he be okay? What's wrong with him?!", the grey-haired asked. the nurse was surprised by how fast Akira spoke and she replied: "He's doing better than yesterday. He'll be fine in a week or two. He's having a pretty new and dangerous sickness. If you hadn't brought him here his body would have probably cooled down and he would be dying ... but arrived here in time! Don't worry, he'll be fine!" Akira nodded and sighed in relief.

Akira didn't get enough sleep but anyways he went to his work. "Be strong, Keisuke ... You managed to stop taking Line ... now you have to get well again!", he thought. As he arrived at the mechanic his boss shouted at him: "You're late again, Akira! And where is this useless Keisuke this time?!" The grey-haired shouted angrily back: "I'm late because I had to take Keisuke to the hospital yesterday night! I had to carry him the whole way from that damned bus stop to the hospital and I only had about 3 or 4 hours of sleep!" his boss asked: "The hospital? Why is he at the hospital?!" Akira calmed down, then he replied: "He's got some new sickness ... If I hadn't brought him to the hospital yesterday night, he'd be dying right now ..." The boss nodded and said: "I've heard of that sickness last 2 days ago ... The shopkeeper of this quarter died of it ... That's why it had been closed for one day, they checked if anything else was affected by the virus in the shop ..." Akira remembered something and said it out loud: "Keisuke bought some stuff back then ... maybe that's where he got the virus from ..." His boss said: "There are bad news ... The shopkeeper was also transported to the hospital but he died anyways ... And now, to make sure, that noone of my workers get sick, you have to leave!" Akira looked at him and replied: "But ... I need that money! I can't afford to be sent away! I need to pay a hospital-bill soon ..."

The boss understood his situation, but anyways he sent Akira away. "I'll give you some money for today ... but I do this only once!", the boss said before the grey-haired had to leave. Again he walked to the hospital.

"Uhm ... I'm sorry to bother you, but could you please check whether I'm infected by the same virus or not?!", Akira asked the doctor, that took care of Keisuke yesterday. The doc nodded and checked Akira. "You're okay! It even seems like you're resistant to that virus ... may I take some of your blood to analyze it? I may be able to create a better cure for that sickness ...!", the doctor said. Akira nodded. The man took some of the grey-haired's blood and walked away with a "thank you".

Akira went to Keisuke's room and entered it as quiet as possible. "Akira ... hello ...", Keisuke said weakly. The grey-haired looked at him and replied: "You're awake! How do you feel?" Futher Akira thought: "Thank godness, he's awake!" Keisuke answered: "A little better ... thank you ... for taking me here ..." Akira smiled slightly, took the chair and sat down next to Keisuke's bed. "It'd be better for you to sleep a little longer ... I'll stay here, don't worry!", Akira said. The brunette nodded and closed his eyes. Keisuke asked with a sleepy and worn out voice: "Are you worried ... about me?" The grey-haired blushed as he replied: "I am worried ... You are very sick and a nurse told me that if I didn't bring you here yesterday you'd be dying now ... I ..." He stopped. Keisuke opened one eye, looked at Akira and said: "But you brought me here ... I'm sure I'll be fine ... soon ... Don't worry that much ..." Akira smiled faint and looked from Keisuke down to his hands. The grey-haired listened to the sounds the monitors made: a constant "beep ... beep ... beep" immitated the brunette's heartbeat. As he listened to that Beep-heartbeat he felt a little reliefed because thqt way he was sure, that his friend was alive.

Akira stayed with Keisuke as long as he could but he needed to go to his work, the two needed that money, urgent. So Akira went away early to be in time at the mechanic.

As he arrived his boss was already waiting for him: "Why are you here? And by the way, you're late again." The grey-haired needed to catch his breath first because he had to run for a while. The bus just stopped functioning about a mile or so away from the nearest stop. "I'm sorry ... the bus I went with stopped functioning ... and I came from the hospital again ...", he started. The boss looked at him, then asked: "So what is it with? Are you infected?" Akira shook his head and answered: "I'm immune ..." The boss turned around and took some papers. He asked: "What's with Keisuke? Will he be fine anytime soon?" The grey-haired stared at the ground and mumbled: "I don't know ... yesterday a nurse told me, he'd be okay within a week or two ..."

"Hurry up and dress for work! The people won't wait forever until theis cars are repaired!", the boss said. Akira nodded and dressed up for work. "I hope that he's okay ... Actually I don't want to leave him alone, but we need the money ...", the grey-haired thought.

In the evening Akira had finished his work and walked home, to have a shower, put on some new clothes and some of Keisuke's stuff. After that he walked to the hospital, because he knew that there wasn't a bus coming. The bus was still being repaired. It took Akira about 3 hours ro reach the hospital and on his way he felt like someone followed him. He stopped and heared some footsteps. The grey-haired turned around to see his boss. "What are you doing here?!" The man came closer, he gave Akira some money and said: "I guess you'll need it ... And I wanted to tell you, that you can stay here for tomorrow ... I know you worry about him!" After that his boss turned around, got into his car and drove away. Akira stared at the money in his hand, $500, about the same he earned within a month with a whole lot of work.

Akira put the money away and walked up the stairs to the hospital. As he entered the house he walked over to the elevator to get to the 5th floor. He walked down the hallway to get to Keisuke's room as he saw nurses and a doctor running past him with the same goal. "What's wrong with him?! Please don't tell me he's dying ...", Akira said. A nurse looked at him, she knew him from before and said: "I'm so sorry ..."

They entered the room. Akira stood outside the room and looked into it. The doctor was trying to revive him with a defibrilator. "Keisuke ... Keisuke!", Akira said first quiet, then much louder. He walked into the room and stepped next to the brunette's bed and grabbed his hand. "Keisuke ... Come back ... Please come back to me!", he thought as tears filled his eyes. The doctor didn't look at the grey-haired, he concentrated on getting Keisuke back to life.

After some shocks from the defibrilator the brunette's pulse stabilized to a weak but regular "beep" on the monitor. Akira kept holding Keisuke's hand and didn't look up, he focused on the brunette's face. Keisuke looked as if he was sleeping peacefully at first, then Akira saw something, that looked like a glimpse of pain.

"I shouldn't have left you here alone ... I'm sorry ...", the grey-haired mumbled in a low voice. The doctor was anotherone then always; he looked at Akira and aked: "You really like him, don't you?" The grey-haired nodded and asked: "Where's the other doctor that was here before?" The man thought for a second, then he replied: "Oh, right! He's stille working on a cure! He's almost finished with it ... He used somebody's blood to make ..." Akira cut him off: "I know ... It's my blood he's using ... Thank you for telling me ..." The doctor nodded and wanted to leave the room as Akira suddenly asked for painkillers for his friend. The man gave him some and warned him: "These are very strong, so make sure you don't use to many of them!" The grey-haired nodded and the doctor left the room.

"Hang on ... until he finished to create a cure ... Stay with me, please ...", Akira murmured. "A-Akira ... y-you're b-back ...", Keisuke stuttered. "Keisuke! How are you?", the grey-haired asked immediatly; he almost cried. The brunette didn't open his eyes as he answered: "I don't f-feel pretty g-good ... I-It's still c-cold and m-my head a-aches ..." Akira put his jacket off, laid it onto Keisuke's chest and said: "Here ... I hope it helps a little ..." The brunette looked at him, smiled slightly and replied: "Thank you ... it helps a lot ... I feel already warmer now ..." The grey-haired looked at him and said: "The doctor left some painkillers for you ... If you need something just tell me ... I won't go away again ...!" Keisuke nodded: "I don't need any ... Thank you ..."

The brunette blushed a little. He took a deep breath to suck in all the smell of Akira, that was left in the jacket. Akira looked at him, he was still worried and said: "You should at least drink something ..." Keisuke nodded and sat up; he immediatly started shivering. The grey-haired took his jacket again and put it around the brunette's shoulders. Akira took a glass filled with water and helped his friend to drink something. Keisuke laid down again and closed his eyes. "Why do you do all this for me?", he asked. Akira replied: "Well you ... followed me to Toshima because you were worried and you've always been my best friend ... That's why ... and of course I'm worried about you ..." The grey-haired blushed, but he didn't understand why. The brunette nodded: "Mmhhmmm ...", he was already half asleep. Akira watched him fall asleep. He stayed by Keisuke's side, his hands laid on the bed and he, himself, was also falling asleep.

As Akira woke up again, he felt his hand lying on something and another hand on his. He opened his eyes to see where his hand laid. Keisuke had put the grey-haired's hand on his chest. As Akira looked at him, the brunette said: "Can you feel it?" Akira felt Keisuke's heart pounding right underneath his hand. He nodded. The brunette took a deep breath and said: "It's beating for you, Akira ... I love you ... I always wanted to tell you ..." The grey-haired's face turned tomato-red and he looked at his hand, lying under his friend's. Akira's heart beat so fast and loud, he could have sworn Keisuke must've heard it too. He felt his friend's heart beat as fast as his own did and he just couldn't look at him, because he didn't know what to say. Akira hesitated for a while until he finally said: "K-Keisuke ... I ... uhm ... I love you too ..." The grey-haired's face turned even more red. The brunette chuckled.

Akira just looked down, he felt strange, but somehow it seemed right to him. "I'm so ... sleepy ...", Keisuke said. He looked as if he tried to stay awake. The grey-haired looked at him: "You should sleep then ... I'll stay ... and by the way I have a day off tomorrow ..." The brunette closed his eyes and murmered: "So it's okay then ..." Soon after that Keisuke fell asleep. Akira watched him, he couldn't sleep now anyways and thought about his feelings towards Keisuke. For him the brunette was the most important person in the world and he needed him, as well as Keisuke needed Akira. The grey-haired put a hand to his chest and tried to feel his own heartbeat - it was still so amazingly fast and loud. Akira was happy, he never thought that such words from a beloved person could make him feel that happy.

It was about now about 3 a.m. ad Akira was still awake. Keisuke was now sleeping for about four hours. Suddenly the _usual_ doctor came in and said: "I'm finished! I have the cure! Sorry it took me so long!" Akira looked at him, then back at Keisuke and thought: "I can only hope, that it works ..." The doctor administered the cure to the brunette and said as quiet as possible: "Now we have to wait ... Maybe we'll see a reaction about evening ... It takes some time to be effective ..." The grey-haired now remembered what happened in Toshima, when Keisuke had taken Line and accidentally swallowed some of Akira's blood; back then he thought he killed Keisuke. After he noticed that his friend was still alive, he had been so happy and when the night was over and Keisuke was the old Keisuke again Akira had felt such a strong relief.

The grey-haired snapped back to reality and stared at Keisuke, now he was hoping that the cure, made of his blood wouldn't have the same effects on Keisuke as it had last time.

later: the cure had worked and akira and keisuke prepared to return home. akira packed the stuff, while keisuke got dressed. the grey-haired looked at keisuke, there was a long scar on the brunette's stomach. Back in Toshima, Shiki had cut keisuke. Akira thought at first that his friend was dead, but as he saw, that he was still breathing he took his shirt and pressed it on his wound. Just at that time Motomi and Rin arrived at that place, they helped Akira to get Keisuke out of there and brought him to a hospital. A whole lot of time went by until Keisuke had finally recovered. Every time Akira saw the brunette's scar he felt guilty, because Keisuke followed him, because he didn't protect him as he promised.

Akira just stared at Keisuke for a while. He shook his head to get his mind cleared and finished to pack the stuff. As they walked towards the bus stop, the grey-haired carried all the bags - he brought for Keisuke - by himself. "Akira ... I'm sure I can carry some of the bags myself ...", Keisuke said. The grey-haired looked at him and replied: "We're just a few steps away from that hospital ... I don't want to take you there anytime soon again! You're supposed to recover!" The brunette sighed: "Anyways it doesn't seem right to me, that you have to carry all these ..." Akira looked at him and smiled: "It's okay! Don't worry ... Actually ... I'm glad to carry all these home, because it means you're coming with me ..." Keisuke looked at him surprised and asked: "R-really? Is that really what you think?" The grey-haired nodded.

Keisuke was happy. And as they finally entered their apartment, Akira put all the bags into their bedroom. The brunette sat on the couch, looked around and sad: "I'm glad to be home again!" Akira walked into the direction of the kitchen, right behind Keisuke he stopped and hugged him briefly. He mumbled into the brunette's should: "Me too ...", then he let go of him, straightened up and walked into the kitchen. Keisuke still sat on the couch, his face had turned red a little and he waited for Akira to come back. The grey-haired grabbed something to eat for both and walked back, to sit next to Keisuke. He gave him one if those packed solids. "Here ... I bet you must be hungry ... Sorry, that I didn't anything else but these solids ...", Akira said and took a bite of his food. The brunette looked at him and smiled: "Thank you ...", he paused for a second, the he continued: "It's okay ... I knew you came to see me every day ... And you still went to work almost every morning ..." Akira looked at him and said: "Come to speak of work ... I'll go work and you recover a little more!" As the grey-haired spoke the last part of his sentence he stared at his food because he didn't want to see Keisuke's reaction. "Okay ... I'll stay here then ... ... You're still worried, aren't you?", the brunette said. "I ...", Akira started, but he didn't finish what he was going to say, so instead he just nodded.

The next morning; Keisuke woke Akira up: "Hey, Akira ... You need to get up, or else you'll be late!" The grey-haired looked at him, then sat up and rubbed his eyes. He yawned and said: "Sorry ... I haven't slept enough in the last few days ... I just couldn't sleep ..." Akira stood up and dressed to go to work. He grabbed one of the solids and a bottle of water. "I'll be back late, so don't worry!", the grey-haired said and walked our of the apartement and to the bus stop.

Akira worked twice the time he normally did and he was getting tired, as he heard a familiar voice. That voice made him think of Toshima, to be more precise he remembered a huge house,a villa. Now he knew whom the voice belonged to, Arubitro. The grey-haired looked at him for a second and he was right, it truely was him. He grabbed his cellphone and took a picture. "This can't be true ... I must've went insane ...", he thought.

Akira heared how someone came closer to him, he stopped thinking of repearing that car, instead he just imaged how he should defend himself against any attacks. He something black from the corner of his eye. From behind him, Akira heared Arubitro call: "Shiki! Let's go! ... We still got some trouble to take care of!" Akira turned around. "That black coat ... It must be Shiki!", he thought. The grey-haired looked at the picture he had taken with his cell phone: One could clearly see that it was Arubitro and Shiki standing there.

Akira's boss came to him and said: "Akira ... It's closing time already, hurry up!" The grey-haired nodded and finished what he was doing, then he put on hus normal clothes, picked up his water bottle and walked into the city. "Shiki and Arubitro ... Damn it! I thought they died in Toshima!", he thought.

Akira went to Bl ster. He wanted to fight today, that's why he told Keisuke, he would come home late today. "Hey, it's Lost!" - "Lost is here? Is he going to fight today?", people said. Akira heard such things every time he came here, but one thing was new, the people were talking about a new guy in Bl ster, someone who had no name yet. "No name? That's pretty strange for a newbie in Bl ster ...", he thought. Akira watched some fights and he saw that new fighter, and it wasn't only one it were three. All from Toshima and they all obeyed every word Arubitro said. These three were: Gunji, Kiriwar and Shiki. Gunji and Kiriwar fought and Shiki only watched them.

Some people pushed Akira and shouted: "Come on! Champion versus newbies! Lost against the two new fighters!" The grey-haired couldn't get away, he was already standing in a circle of people and no way out. He sighed and thought: "Damn it! I never wanted to see any of these ever again ... and now this is happening ... not quite a happy day though ..." He tossed his jacket aside.

Gunji and Kiriwar looked at him, then they laughed. Gunji was fighting first. He was strong and fought more than just good! But Akira beat him. Now Kiriwar stepped into the circle. "So you call yourself Lost here? Pathetic!", Shiki said and Kiriwar started laughing. Akira looked at Shiki and said: "Come again tomorrow ... Shiki! Then I'll fight you, but not like this child's play Bl ster! Let's fight as we did in Toshima, like Igura!" After that he hit Kiriwar that hard, that he was knocked out immediatly, grabbed his stuff and walked away.

On his way he met N, he said: "You cannot fight Shiki ... His body had accepted my blood, 100% pure Line ..." Akira looked at him and replied: "Back in Toshima, people who tasted my blood died, because my blood is some kind of antidote to Line ... maybe it has the same effect on him?" N thought for a second, then answered: "It will have an even stronger effect ... because it's pure Line in his body!" The grey-haired nodded and N walked away.

"Hey, trash! How about I show you your place right now!", Shiki called from behind. "Seems like you want to taste a Champions blood, huh, Shiki?", Akira said and turned to him. "If I provoke him enough, this might work ...!", he thought. Shiki drew his sword, Akira his knife. "Thank God I took it with me!", Akira thought. Shiki charged at the grey-haired, who blocked the other ones sword. Shiki was way too fast for Akira, he was playing with his "prey". The black-haired cut Akira's cheek and said: "Just like I said ... trash ..."

The grey-haired clenched his teeth and started several attacks, until Shiki grabbed Akira's head. He grinned and licked the blood running down the grey-haired's face. Shiki immediatly let go of Akira and stepped backwards, he was suffocating and fell to his knees. The grey-haired watched him, until Shiki fell aside and stopped breathing.

Akira was almost home, just a few meters away. "Keisuke must've heard the fight", he thought and stepped forward. Until that time he didn't notice that he was injured, a lot. He pressed his right hand against the left part of his waist. He felt the warm blood covering his hand and running down his skin. "Damn it ... That was too much ...", he thought and leaned against a wall. Akira's legs couldn't carry his weight anymore, so he slid down the wall and sat there and stared into the darkening sky, it was going to rain any minute. Akira pressed his hand at the heavily bleeding injury. "Am I going to die here? Will I bleed out before somebody finds me here?", he questioned himself in his mind.

It began to rain, first there were only a few drops and suddenly it was raining heavily. The water mixed up with Akira's blood and washed it away like a small river. "So that's it then ... i guess ...", he thought and closed his eyes. The raindrops constantly fell onto hus face. For some reason he felt okay with it, dying right where he was now in this heavy rain. Suddenly the rain stopped hitting his face, but he could still hear, that it was still raining. Did his body turn numb?

"Akira! Akira, open your eyes! Are you still alive? Open your eyes, damn it!", that voice seemed familiar to Akira. Was there truly someone beside him, or was he only imagining it? The grey-haired tried to open his eyes, but he couldn't. He tried to speak at least, useless. The blood was spilled by the wound, the more Akira muscles relaxed. He tried to make a sound, let the one beside him know that he was still alive. The only sound he managed to make was some kind of: "Uh ..." He concentrated on opening his eyes, he needed to know if there really was someone beside him.

Slowly he opened one eye, everything was blurry and everything was mixed together, he couldn't even tell, where the houses were. He slightly felt a grip around his hand and with that Akira _came back_, his thoughts turned from being okay with dying, back to the strong will to live. The grey-haired now felt all the pain his injury caused, he felt his whole body, he felt the grip on his hand and could see more clearly now. There really was someone beside him, he looked to his left. Keisuke! Keisuke was beside, in his left hand held an umbrella, his right hand clung to Akira's left hand.

The grey-haired knew he needed to say something, so he tried again: "Kei ... suke ..." It worked, he spoke something and the brunette reacted immediatly. He lifted his head and looked into Akira's eyes. "You're alive! Thank goodness! You're still alive!", Keisuke sobbed. Akira gave a wince of pain. His right hand was shaking as he stared at this blood-stained hand, again he pressed against the wound. "A-Akira! You ... The bleeding of this wound of yours is way too strong to ... I gotta do something ...!", Keisuke said and looked around. He seemed so helpless.

Suddenly someone else ran to them. Akira's vision was getting blurry again and he felt so sleepy. He heared how Keisuke was talking to that other one to Akira's right. The grey-haired only heard Keisuke's voice, he couldn't hear the words. He felt how his right hand was taken away from his wound and how something else was pressed on it. Keisuke spoke to Akira, he still couldn't hear the words but his voice and the fact that he was here, by his side made him feel comfortable somehow. The grey-haired's eyes were closing again. Keisuke grabbed Akira's hand harder and spoke to him, louder than before. These words were now audible for the grey-haired. "Akira! Don't close your eyes, please! Stay awake ... Don't die on me, please!" The brunette was crying, Akira heard it and it felt as if his body wanted to obey and disobey Keisuke _orders_ at the same time. The grey-haired tried hard, not to close his eyes but his wound was still bleeding and with every minute, that passed, Akira felt more tired. His body was almost refusing to stay awake, to stay alive but his mind was stronger. He blinked slowly. Someone lifted him up and carried him to an old car, as Akira would describe it by its noise.

Again Akira heard Keisuke speak; he listened closly to get the words: "Rin? Motomi? Why did you come here?" Now Akira tried to understand their response: "We've been following Arubitro and Shiki ... Then we saw Akira challenging Shiki at Bl ster!" It was Motomi, who spoke. He drove. He was way too fast and soon the police stopped him.

"You do know, that you drove three times as fast as it is allowed, don't you?!", the policeman asked. Motomi replied: "I do, but please take a look at the backseat ... The grey-haired will be dying if I don't get him to a hospital anytime soon. There's a big wound on his waist, he already lost too much blood, he'll bleed out, although I bandaged it myself!" The policeman opened the door and looked at the wound himself. Akira was barely breathing, his head rested on Keisuke's lap. The policeman closed the door and said: "We will escort you to the hospital, so you won't cause any accidents!" Another policeman came to them and looked thrpugh the window at Akira. The first policeman pushed the other towards their car and said: "Stop staring! We've got to hurry!"

Akira weakly looked at Keisuke. The brunette saw, that his friend was in pain and that it was real hard for him to stay awake. "Hang on! We'll arrive at the hospital any minute! You've got to be strong!", Keisuke said. Akira blinked extremely slow, he almost couldn't open his eyes again and kept his eyes on his friend's. The grey-haired was as pale as a corpse. Keisuke was still crying. "I'll be ...", Akira started; he spoke really slow, weak and in a low voice. The brunette seemed a little startled and focus his red, teary eyes on Akira's as they grey-haired continued: "... fine ... don't ... worry ..." Keisuke smiled slightly, nodded and bruhed his tears away. The brunette continued crying, but after Akira had spoken to him he seemed a little reliefed.

The car stopped; they finally arrived at the hospital. Motomi and Keisuke got Akira out of the car and Motomi carried the grey-haired inside the huge building. The younger brunette followed. Some nurses were already waiting for them. Motomi laid Akira on a barrow. The nurses pushed it into a room, which they locked after they got in.

Keisuke sat on a chair, he buried his face in his hands and cried. Motomi sat next to him and put a hand to the younger one's shoulder. "They'll take good care of him, don't worry! He's strong ... He stayed awake since you were by his side, although he lost that much blood ... That's pretty amazing ..." Keisuke looked at him and replied: "I know but I'm worried anyways ..." Motomi nodded: "I understand ... but right now we can't do anything ..."

Rin walked from the left to the right and back again, then he repeated. While he did so he murmured: "He killed Shiki ... He killed him on his own and that so easy?!" Motomi looked at the blonde and sighed. "Rin! Shiki had taken 100% pure Line, Akira's blood is the *antidote* to Line ... What do you think Akira did to win that fight?!", Motomi said. Rin stopped walking and looked at him. "You mean, that Akira provoked Shiki, so he would taste his blood and die?!", he asked. Rin seemed a little confused at first, then disgusted. "You mean he was willing to throw his life away, to just kill Shiki?!", he continued. "Well ... I would express it like that but you're actually right ... I think he wanted to save everyone from being killed by Shiki.", Motomi replied. Keisuke looked up and thought: "They were fighting near the house with our apartement ..."

After about an hour or two a doctor stepped towards them and stopped right in front of the three. "We have been able to save his life, but it was close ... He lost a lot blood and his wounds are deep ... It will take some time for him to heal completely. He's having a blood transfusion. You can go into his room, but he's asleep and he won't wake up soon ...", the doctor told them. Keisuke got up: "What's the number of his room?! I ... I need to see him!" The doctor pointed down the hallway and said: "Last door on the right side. It's a room for one patient only! But please be careful! He hasn't stabilized yet ... That means there is still a chance for him to die ..." Keisuke felt as if he was struck by lightning and his mind went blank at first. He needed to swallow, then he thought: "He ... could still die ... just this easy ..." He just didn't know how to react, even if he wanted to say something, he couldn't do so because he felt like he was being choked. Keisuke walked over to the room Akira was in. He entered and remained silent.

Akira laid on a bed, pale as a corpse; sleeping. There was a breathing hose attached to his nose and he was connected to several kinds of monitors, to constantly show his vital stats. Tears filled up in Keisuke's eyes again. Keisuke lowered his head and clenched his fists.

The doctor came in with a small bag filled with blood. He changed to bags for Akira's blood transfusion. "We had to create artificial blood ... His blood is unique ...", the doctor whispered. Keisuke looked at him and the man continued: "As you were in this hospital a good friend of mine treated you and he created a cure, based on his blood! He was the only one, that was immune to that virus!" As he said "his" he pointed at Akira. Keisuke nodded and the doctor left the room as quiet as possible. The grey-haired looked as if he would fade away any minute. He had dark circles around his eyes, probably because of the immense bloodloss.

Keisuke sat down on a chair and watched his friend. Akira's chest rose and fell slowly, weakly. Keisuke grabbed a handful of his jeans, he was about to cry but still he tried not to make any sound. "Why did you do this? Why did you fight Shiki alone?! Why did you take the rist of dying?!", he thought. Tears ran down his face. The brunette lowered his head. "Why?", he couldn't understand Akira's reason to so easy take the risk of being killed by Shiki. "Did you even know, that your blood was able to have an effect on Shiki?", he really wanted to ask Akira, but he didn't want to wake him up.

The beep-sound of the monitor was irregular; from time to time the grey-haired's heart skipped a beat or two. This made Keisuke be even more worried. He kept watching his friend.

Only after two days Akira woke up again. He was still very pale and he seemed weak, as if his body was still lacking way too much blood to be okay. Every day, the doctor entered the room, twice to change the blood transfusion and one or two times to check on Akira's vital functions.

Keisuke came as often as he could. Just as Akira did, when Keisuke was in hospital he went to work every day. Rin and Motomi also visted Akira every day.

As the grey-haired woke up nobody was inside the room. He sat up and put hand to his head. Akira looked through the window to his right. "I'm in the hospital ... I don't remember everything ... after I fought Shiki ... damn", he thought. Suddenly he felt a sharp pain and laid back on the bed. He put a hand to where his injury was. He felt a suture, then he saw the blood transfusion. "Damn it ... Is that really necessary?! Did I really lose that much blood? And how long was I out?! Shit, why can't I remember everything?!", he thought. Now he heared the beep-sound of the monitor and tried to take a look on it. The beep-sound was fast and started ro get irregular. Akira tried to calm down. He took a deep breath - the wound hurt badly as he did so. The pain was on the edge of being unbearable and his pulse sped up. Again he tried to calm.

Someone knocked at the door. Akira looked at the door in the corner of his eye. Keisuke entered the room. "A-Akira ... you're awake ... finally!", he smiled. As the brunette noticed the painful expression on Akira's face and his fast heartbeat, he asked: "Are you alright?! Is something wrong?" The grey-haired shook his head: "I'm fine ... How long have I been out?" Keisuke answered: "Two days ..." Akira turned his head towards the window. "What about your wound? Does it hurt?", Keisuke asked in a worried tone. The grey-haired looked at him again. There were some oil patches on Keisuke's shirt. "You finished work and came here ...", Akira determined. The brunette nodded and replied: "Of course, I did so every day! As I was in hospital you also came every day, after you had been working!" Somehow Akira was annoyed. He expressed his mood with a sigh. Keisuke looked at him, he noticed, that Akira had his hand lying on his wound. The brunette walked over to Akira and grabbed his hand. "I'm so glad you're awake! I was really worried about you ... As Motomi, Rin and I brought you here, you were almost dead already ... You lost so much blood ... and I didn't think you would recover that fast ...", Keisuke stated. Akira looked at the hand Keisuke was holding on to, the he looked at his face and said: "I cannot remember everything, after I won the fight against Shiki ..." The brunette nodded and replied: "You ... stayed awake, although you lost that much blood, the doctor was surprised, that you were still alive ... I've been so glad, that Rin and Motomi were there ... Motomi drove us here ..." His eyes were getting teary. "I'm fine now ... I just hope, they'll let me leave soon ...", Akira said.


End file.
